According to Deloitte’s 2013 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index, China is the most economically competitive nation in the world. The United States fell to fifth place while India jumped to second place and Brazil reached third. Germany ranked fourth.

The fall of America on the list was an indicator that developed nations will have a harder time competing with emerging markets in the coming years, according to the report’s authors. Craig Giff, U.S. Consumer and Industrial Products Industry Leader and co-author of the report told reports that developed nations will find stiffer competition from rapidly growing developing nations. “We are at an inflection point,” Giffi noted. “For developed nations, it’s going to get harder.”

The report’s focus on manufacturing led it to privilege nations with a stronger manufacturing base, while services were not factored into the report. Deloitte created and began tracking the index in 2010 and is based on the surveys of 550 executives and leaders in large companies, who are asked to rank 38 countries and how they will fare in the next five years.

Each survey respondent was asked to rank each nation according to competitiveness, trade and tax policies, and access to talent. According to these criteria, executives said access to talented workers remained the largest indicator of a nation’s competitiveness.

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